Science News

That's the promise of robotic refueling on orbit: aging satellites can get a new lease on life from a robotic machine making a service call. Or, at least, the dream of such a system got dramatically closer after NASA's robotic mission success. NASA had an idea, and in a series of extraordinary tests, decided to demonstrate that technologies for servicing satellites in space had evolved to levels of material value. Extending the lifespans of satellites already at work hundreds, even thousands of miles above the Earth, could soon be a reality. In a six-day test at the International Space Station called the Robotic Refueling Mission, they tried out tools and techniques for repairing and refueling satellites without a single astronaut in sight. It's a story with historical roots dating back to the 1980's, and with RRM's twenty-first century on-orbit success, it shines a light on bold imaginings for a space-faring future that suddenly doesn't seem so far ahead. In this documentary we look at the lifecycle of this extraordinary initiative.

From high above the Earth, the International Space Station (ISS) provides a unique vantage point to view our home planet. Stunning time-lapse photography of cities, aurora, lightning and other sights are seen from orbit. Famed astronomer Galileo imagined these views from space and now through the technological marvel of the space station, we can see them for ourselves.

From NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. This video takes images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory and applies additional processing to enhance the structures that are visible. The result is a beautiful, new way of looking at the sun.

Superficially, Saturn's moon Phoebe doesn't look much like a planet, but on the inside, the little gray moon has a lot in common with worlds like Earth.

The full Moon has a reputation for trouble. It raises high tides, it makes dogs howl, it wakes you up in the middle of the night with beams of moonlight stea...

This video features a series of time lapse sequences photographed by the Expedition 30 crew aboard the International Space Station. Set to the song "Walking in the Air," by Howard Blake, the video takes viewers around the world, through auroras, and over dazzling lightning displays. 

Articles about ASTRONOMY: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=astronomy

This animation of GOES data runs through the period of April 14-15, 2012. The imagery reveals the strong flow of warm, moist air from the Gulf into an advancing cold front. There were more than 135 reports of tornadoes and 124 different warnings during this period.

This animation visualizes daily snow cover over North America from July 1, 2009 - March 11, 2012.

A team led by Bruno Giacomazzo at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and including Baker developed computer simulations that for the first time show what happens in the magnetized gas (also called a plasma) in the last stages of a black hole merger.

Filmed at 10,000 frames per second by Japan's NHK television, movies like this of electromagnetic bursts called "sprites" will help scientists better understand how weather high in the atmosphere relates to weather on the ground.

Researchers animated this simulation of a magnetic tornado in the solar atmosphere in order to study how such twisters evolve over time and determine how complex magnetic fields manipulate the Suns ionized gas/plasma.

This video shows a simple activity with clay that demonstrates the stages of fusion within the core of a star. Depending on its mass, a star can fuse and create many different elements before it finally runs out of fuel.

Planetary exploration is in trouble. Massive budget cuts threaten to starve NASA's planetary program for years to come. I'm fighting back with passion—passion for the incredible adventure that began half a century ago and has given us countless wonders and amazing discoveries. I've made this video as a call to action. Please share it with your friends and family. And tell Washington, "We Must Explore!" by going to: www.planetary.org/get-involved/be-a-space-advocate/

NASA Astronaut Don Pettit demonstrates water oscillations on a speaker in microgravity, and ZZ Top rocks the boat 250 miles above Earth. Answer the challenge question at www.physicscentral.com/sots for a chance to win a prize and have your name read from space!

NASA dreams big science. In this awesome new short, NASA presents the Earth, the planets, the Sun, and the endless universe beyond. Come for the cool, stay for the music, take away a sense of wonder to share. It's six minutes from Earth to forever, and you can see it here!

Articles about NASA: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=NASA

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has spotted the mysterious objects creating trails in the rings that scientists are calling 'mini-jets'. Some of these objects travel in groups creating rippling swirls and eddies in the planet's strange ring.

The SeaWiFS instrument aboard the SeaStar satellite has been collecting ocean data since 1997. By monitoring the color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing.

A beautiful prominence eruption producing a coronal mass ejection (CME) shot off the east limb (left side) of the sun on April 16, 2012. Such eruptions are often associated with solar flares, and in this case an M1 class (medium-sized) flare occurred at the same time, peaking at 1:45 PM EDT. The CME was not aimed toward Earth.

Articles about ASTRONOMY: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=astronomy